When switching inductive loads at high speed or during electrostatic discharge events, semiconductor components such as power switches or electrostatic discharge devices are required to dissipate energy stored in an inductor or charged element. This requires adjustment of the turn-on behavior of these semiconductor components relative to other semiconductor elements to ensure that the semiconductor element which is designated to dissipate the energy absorbs a respective discharge current and, consequently, to avoid any overstress of semiconductor elements that are not capable of absorbing the energy and to avoid any overstress in a mode that would lead to destruction of devices.
Thus, it is desirable to improve energy dissipation in a semiconductor device when switching off inductive loads at high speed or during electrostatic discharge events.